Waite Park Faces Potential Years-Long Effort and $20 Million Cost to Address PFAS Contamination in Water

(KNSI) – It may be years before Waite Park is able to take the final steps to address PFAS contamination in its water as part of a treatment facility upgrade that could cost as much as $20 million.

Public Works Director Bill Schluenz tells KNSI News that extensive data collection is needed before an appropriate course of action can be taken. “We have to do pilot studying and a bench test study, so there are two different things. That can take anywhere from up to six months to a year and a half to get the results.”

Preliminary and final design stages will tack on another ten to 14 months.

Council members heard a presentation on the issue Monday, already ruling out reverse osmosis due to its cost. The two remaining options are ion exchange and granular activated carbon, or GAC. Both help filter out PFAS, which the current facility, at 22 years old, is not equipped for.

Water consulting firm AE2S recommends some upgrades and maintenance improvements, including replacing the media in the air stripper and filter and the drain piping connected to the detention tank. Another suggestion is to expand the well from its current 200,000 gallon capacity to 500,000 gallons. Officials would also like an electronic communication system that allows the main plant to talk to the individual well houses to better regulate flow.

Schluenz says the saga has taught him to keep an eye out for preventing the build up of compounds that could be considered toxic in the future whenever possible. “PFAS was, a number of years ago, [unregulated] and then they turned it into a regulated one. So, I want to make sure that the city is protected with the best treatment process that can maybe take care of some [PFAS] that are coming down the road that we don’t know about yet.”

Federal and state agencies have been tightening limits on PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” Cities now find themselves exposed to a huge liability that would have been inconceivable a decade ago.

AE2S has helped the city apply for several possible funding streams to help pay for the project, including long-term low-interest loans from the Environmental Protection Agency to having it included as an earmark in a Congressionally Directed Spending request in the next budget.

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